By Joseph Klein
During last Sunday’s “Sixty Minutes” joint interview with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama boasted that “You know, when it comes to Egypt, I think, had it not been for the leadership we showed, you might have seen a different outcome there.”
It’s hard to disagree with the president. His administration contributed to the turmoil now gripping Egypt and leading to what some observers on the ground there have characterized as “a complete state of collapse,” to quote Al Jazeera.
Under Obama’s self-described “leadership,” his administration promulgated the false image of the Muslim Brotherhood as “moderate Islamists” (an oxymoron if there ever was one). Just last September, for example, an administration official, defending the White House’s plan to forgive $1 billion in Egyptian debt, said of the Muslim Brotherhood’s supposed commitment to economic reform: “They sound like Republicans half the time.” And let’s not forget Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s memorable description of the Muslim Brotherhood in February 2011 as “largely secular.”
As a consequence of his delusions about the good intentions of the Muslim Brotherhood, Obama tilted U.S. policy in their favor to lead the post-Mubarak regime at the expense of the more pro-democracy secularists who sparked the revolution in Tahrir Square in the first place two years ago.
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